Seven months after opening, no full-time prosecutor for Attappady court
The prosecutor’s responsibility has been given to assistant public prosecutor (APP) at Mannarkkad Munsif Magistrate Court, Abdul Wahab V., who visits the court twice a week. He comes to Attappady court on Thursday and Friday, and takes care of Mannarkkad court on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
The government is yet to appoint a full-time prosecutor at the Munsif Magistrate Court at Attappady even seven months after the court came into being.
The court was inaugurated on January 6 this year with much fanfare after more than two decades of dilly dallying.
The prosecutor’s responsibility has been given to assistant public prosecutor (APP) at Mannarkkad Munsif Magistrate Court, Abdul Wahab V., who visits the court twice a week. Mr. Wahab comes to Attappady court on Thursday and Friday, and takes care of Mannarkkad court on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Without a full-time APP, the Attappady court is unable to handle certain matters, especially bail applications, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The court posts the bail applications coming up on those days to Thursday and Friday.
“This is one of the problems the court will have to face until it has a full-time prosecutor,” said Mr. Wahab, who manages travelling between his home at Kottakkal and courts at Attappady and Mannarkkad.
The court staff said that the request for a full-time prosecutor was with the government. Sources said the Lok Sabha elections in April had stalled the appointment. The government, they said, was likely to take a decision soon.
Although the court at Attappady does not have too many cases, the cases are piling up for Mr. Wahab when he visits the court on Thursdays and Fridays. In the last seven months, the court has had 650 civil cases and 1,500 criminal cases.
The court was set up in a building where the block panchayat had earlier functioned at Agali. The government spent ₹20.10 lakh to renovate the building. As many as 22 employees were appointed for the Munsif Court and five for the magistrate court.
Attappady was the top priority among the 53 new courts being set up across the State. Still it took more than two decades to circumvent hurdles posed by people in and outside the legal fraternity. Lack of an interest among the legal and judicial fraternity was the main reason, though there was resistance from different sections, including politicians and land mafia.
- Telegram
SEE ALL
PRINT